Love

     I like watching sappy Christmas movies because they embody a spirit of giving. In this country especially at this time of year it seems to be more about what you are getting, especially materially. But in order to get something someone has to give.
     The best thing about the message of Christmas is the one that you don't have to have alot materially to give that which is most important and that is love. You can't buy it and you can't sell it. You can't even see it because it is something that lives inside of you.
     One of my favorite movies is It's A Wonderful Life. It's the story of George Bailey, a regular guy. George had plans for his life, big plans. He was going to get out of Bedford Falls, the town where he grew up. He was going to make something of himself but he got sidelined. He met Mary, fell in love, got married and had some kids. Then things went terribly wrong in his life, so much so that he wished he'd never been born, enter Clarence, an angel who gives him his wish. George gets to see how other people's  lives would have turned out if he had not been born and it wasn't good. You see he did things that had a positive impact on the people around him, including saving his brother's life. He also gets to experience being there, interacting with his friends, but nobody knows who he is because he was never born. He experiences true despair because he is disconnected from the very people he had the greatest connection with and their connection is love. The greatest seeming trouble which had to do with money, the very thing that caused George to wish he had never been born, somehow is no longer important. So George wants to go back, his wish is granted. George's joy knows no bounds, his friends know him, his beloved Mary is there. George's friends rally around him to help him out of the financial difficulty. None of them have alot, but when pooled together their resources become more than enough.
     The greatest lesson learned is that each individual is special and precious. You were born for a reason. Your life blesses others. I pray for each one of you that read these words, that you would realize how precious you are, you are a blessing, you are the pearl of great price. God so loved you that He gave that which was most precious to Him, just for you.      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdHBx34ALjU